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Week One (2023-24): Friday, September 1, 2023

Welcome: 

Welcome to my blog to keep you up to date with what's going on in my social studies classes! I will try my best to remain consistent and up to date with this so if you notice me slipping please call me on it. The whirlwind of the first week of school has come to an end and it was a busy one for the students! We were able to meet with administrators, get the new lunch procedures down, take a team photo, and figure out the new schedule with homeroom at the start of the day! 

Each week I enjoy taking some class time on Friday to show a video that is about more than just social studies. Sometimes the videos will be serious, and sometimes they will be funny, but they are always meant to get the students thinking about their own lives and those around them. This week I showed an oldie but a goodie--a segment from ESPN called Outside the Lines about two wrestlers who encounter and overcome a variety of obstacles. I hope you enjoy the video! 



This Past Week: 

Both my Social Studies and Accelerated Social Studies classes were doing the same things this week. The goals of this week were simple--to get to know each other, start building some comfort and community, and for the students to learn some of the procedures we will use throughout the school year. Here's a quick rundown of what we did each day: 
  • Monday: Today was all about easing our way back into school! The students gave me some information about themselves, interviewed each other and completed a Frayer a Friend graphic organizer & got to know each other a little better. 
  • Tuesday: Tuesday was another shortened class period--we did our first Fast and Curious Quizizz game (something we'll do quite often here) so the students could learn about the class and me as a teacher. 
  • Wednesday:  Today was the first day the students did any sort of "arguing" in here. I will often ask the students to formulate and defend an opinion and today we started with "Do schools kill creativity?" Additionally, the students did their first Sketch and Tell of the year--these activities are great in helping them to learn and make meaning of new information since they are drawing and writing about it. 
  • Thursday: The students started to do some historical research skills and content creation. We started with a cool way to build collective research databases using a Google Form and then used that information to create a Google Slide based on the research of the class. Finally, the students were asked to write a summary of what they learned today--this will help me to see where we need to focus to strengthen our writing moving forward. 
  • Friday: We celebrated our first week back with an inspirational video and some time to work on their first learning menu in class. The students will be asked to help guide their own learning throughout the year and our first week's Google Playlist helps them get in that habit. 

Next Week:

We'll continue to do activities that are meant to help the students feel more connected to each other, me as a teacher, and the class as well as get them used to the procedures and activities we'll do this year. Here are a few of the bigger assignments we will be doing this week: 
  • Why Study History? We'll take time to discuss the study of history. The students will take part in an activity called a debate carousel to help them practice formulating opinions and seeing both sides of a discussion. 
  • Is a Hotdog a Sandwich? We'll practice writing arguments based on evidence and reasoning in this assignment. 
  • History of Mr. B They students will learn everything they ever wanted to know plus more about me as they work with primary sources about my life. This activity will help them learn how we "do" history

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